A friend of presidents, industrialists, and statesmen… A sailor whose career began on coal fired steamships but went on to witness the surrender of Japan following the use of the first atomic bomb… A pilot who became the first man to fly over the North and South Poles, and an admiral who charted a landmass fully half the size of the United States itself… Admiral Richard E. Byrd was one of the world’s last great explorers.
There was an entire class of Navy ships- some thirty vessels- named after Army Generals. The largely forgotten General G.O. Squier class transports did yeomans' work in an unsung role, and have an interesting history that deserves to be remembered.